The petition in the NGT had asked for an order to stop work on the Greenfield Airport at Doloo Tea Estate...........
Digital desk: The Supreme Court on Monday, ordered the Assam government to keep things as they are at the Doloo tea estate in the Cachar region of Assam, where a greenfield airport is planned to be built.
Judges J.B. Pardiwala, Manoj Misra, and Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud formed a bench and questioned the state administration over cutting back the tea garden's shrubs without first obtaining an environment impact assessment report.
The Centre, the Ministry of Environment and Forests, the Assam government, and others received notices from the top court about a plea filed by Tapas Guha and others.
Representing the petitioners, advocate Prashant Bhushan argued that the NGT made a mistake in its ruling and that environmental clearance must occur even before site clearance and in-principle authorizations may be granted.
The NGT dismissed Guha and others' appeal on January 25 because the environmental clearance for the airport in question has not yet been given and that the environmental impact assessment report is still pending.
The applicants' counsel has brought our attention to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India, Notification dated May 16, 2008, specifically the column under the heading "Environment Clearances." The council argues that environmental clearance is required even for the granting of site clearance and in-principle approvals and that this can only be completed once the EIA assessment study is completed.
The NGT had stated, "We do not believe that the mere inclusion of a clause under the heading 'Environment Clearances' in a Form of the said Notification makes the same mandatory for purposes of EIA assessment study."
The petition in the NGT had asked for an order to stop work on the Greenfield Airport at Doloo Tea Estate until an extensive Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was completed by the EIA notification. It also asked for the restoration of the Doloo Tea Estate to its pre-construction state by May 12, 2022, by replacing uprooted tea bushes and fallen shade trees, as well as repairing any harm done to the ecosystem and landscape.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has received an application from the Airports Authority of India under the Greenfield Airports (GFA) Policy, 2008, requesting "site-clearance" for the construction of a Greenfield airport at the Doloo tea plantation in Cachar, Assam.
On October 21, 2016, the Ministry of Civil Aviation launched the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS), also known as Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN), to promote regional air connectivity, particularly in the North Eastern Region, and lower the cost of air travel for the general public.
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